Rare bug spotted for first time in U.S. at Houston port

A rare bug somehow made its way into a shipment inspected at the Port of Houston at the end of last year, marking the first time the creature has ever been spotted in the U.S., officials said.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialist discovered an insect among a shipment of tiles imported from Italy arriving at Bayport terminal on Dec. 14. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, entomologists have never sighted the Stictopleurus abutilon, Rossi, a scentless sap sucker bug typically found in the British Isles, in the U.S. before this interception.

Lynn Fallik, Houston's acting director of field operations, said the agency actively searches for harmful pests and plant diseases to prevent harm to the agriculture industry.

"Interceptions such as this are important to protecting our plants, crops, and other agricultural resources," she said.

The laboratory confirmed Jan. 8 that before this specimen was collected, this insect had never been sighted in the United States, and no other interceptions of this pest were found in the database between 1984 to date before this specimen was collected.